The Albuquerque Journal's Hale-Bopp coverage

Ben Benjamin/Special to the Journal

Coment Hale-Bopp is seen in the early morning eastern sky above the Sandia Mountains in this time-exposure photograph


Heavenly Bodies
Comet Hale-Bopp inspired profesional and amateur photographers. These published photographs were the favorites, as selected by Journal staff. To all those who entered their pictures for consideration, thank you.

  • Hale-Bopp is the brightest comet in more than 250 years, says the leader of a team of European astronomers. Using a formula that corrects for variables, Mark Kidger concluded that Hale-Bopp's intrinsic brightness is greater than any coment since Comet Sarabat. 4/08/97
  • Teams of scientists from New Mexico State University and NASA will try, try again to study comet Hale-Bopp from southern New Mexico observatories. 4/04/97
  • As close as Comet Hale-Bopp is to Earth observers, astronomers took an even closer look with the launch of a telescope-toting rocket. 3/25/97
  • A NASA team is bringing a special instrument to New Mexico's Apache Point Observatory the first week in April to try to understand Comet Hale-Bopp's chemical structure. 3/10/97 and 3/21/97
  • Since its discovery, Hale-Bopp has drawn conspiracy theorists and UFO buffs, much to Alan Hale's consternation. The dominant theory is that an alien spacecraft is tailing the comet. 9/22/96 and 12/3/96
  • While the UFO buffs have a field day, however, the scientist are busy doing real work, hoping to use Hale-Bopp to understand the beginnings of our solar system. 9/22/96
  • Alan Hale was killing time with his telescope when he spotted an unusual fuzzy blob. 7/25/95
  • Within days, it became clear what a spectacular comet Hale-Bopp might turn out to be.7/27/95
  • The concrete driveway of Alan Hale's mountain home, where his son plays basketball, seems an unlikely site for such a remarkable discovery. 8/7/95
  • By October 1995, some of the world's major telescopes, including NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, were pointed toward Hale-Bopp.10/25/95
  • Astronomy is a passion for Alan Hale, but despite a doctorate from New Mexico State University, it has proven a tough way to make a living. 9/22/96

     

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